Malicious Office (OOXML) / .XLSM — malware analysis report

Static analysis result for SHA-256 a9763b59e46f0467…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

106.5 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:19:34 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 14.0300
MD5: 2a3d96f5457e24e8b8ade652e615bfb4 SHA-1: caa93a1b75bcbfff2ce4036a775f4d138ad927a3 SHA-256: a9763b59e46f04675d60453c99910ce4dd7e72c9302964256612d2a18be7a5c9
180 Risk Score

Malware Insights

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Service Execution: Service Execution T1204.002 Malicious File: Malicious File

The file is an Excel macro-enabled spreadsheet (XLSM) containing Excel 4.0 macros. These macros utilize dangerous functions like EXEC and CALL to download and execute content from the provided URLs. The document body also contains these URLs, reinforcing the malicious intent. The specific Excel 4.0 macro sheet structure and the use of EXEC/CALL point to a downloader or droppper functionality.

Heuristics 4

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (3 sheet(s)) critical OOXML_XLM_MACROSHEET
    Spreadsheet contains an Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro sheet — XLM was a major Office malware vector during 2020-2022 and evaded many VBA-focused controls before Microsoft tightened XLM defaults. Even legitimate XLM use is rare in modern workbooks.
  • Excel 4.0 Auto_Open defined name critical OOXML_XLM_AUTOOPEN_DEFINEDNAME
    Workbook defines _xlnm.Auto_Open or _xlnm.Auto_Close while containing an XLM macro sheet. This is the OOXML/XLSB auto-execution shape for Excel 4.0 macros.
  • Dangerous XLM formula APIs: HALT, CALL, FORMULA, WORKBOOK.HIDE critical OOXML_XLM_DANGEROUS_FN
    Excel 4.0 macro sheet uses formula APIs that call directly into Win32 (=CALL/=EXEC/=REGISTER/=FORMULA). These are the primitives used to download payloads, write files, and start processes from an XLM macro without invoking VBA.
  • Embedded URL info EMBEDDED_URL
    One or more URLs were extracted from the document. The URL itself is not a detection — see the per-URL labels for which channel (macro, JS, link annotation, document body, ...) reached each URL.
    URL https://industrialarttextile.com/QSG9tCTB7/hadrt.html
    • https://anaheimdermatologists.com/tzJ9kyP6iG/hasrt.html
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/excel/2006/main
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2009/9/ac

Extracted artifacts 3

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
xlm_sheet_00.xml
77506dd6876315d017d43b59005773cca1964b7092bf13f77a293c8436fa81b3
xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet2.xml 805 bytes
xlm_sheet_01.xml
d58cfd326d0c9337ad8afba611af4e0b433ba8da73c78792d237ba56aea22a55
xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 4030 bytes
xlm_sheet_02.xml
c9639b11fec63901134871fb42359ef3e65db62f61fe3d9d626b901c1c1931a3
xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/intlsheet1.xml 206597 bytes